William jones



W. JOB ES.

Potato-Digger,

Patented lEea 8. |863 @Ninn STATES- PATENT GFFICE.

WILLIAM Jonsson s'rpIloUI's, MISSOURI.`

IMPRQVEMENT lN-PoTA'ro-Dloei-:Ra y

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0.40,j842, dated December8, 1863.

Fo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JONES, of the city' and county of St. Louis,and State of Missouri, have invented a new and Improved Potato-Digger;and I do hereby declare 'the following to he a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings,making part of this specication, in whichl,

Figure l is a top view of my said invention, and Fig. 2 is a verticalsection taken on the line A A' 'of Fig. Il.l Y

The object of myinvention is to produce a more eicient machine forthepurpose of digging and 'gathering potatoes; anditconsists n'a novelarrangement and combination of mechanical devices, wherebythe vines andweeds are raked and' cut away from the hills or rows ot potatoes, and bywhichthe potatoes are taken ont ot' the ground, separated from the dirt,and delivered intoa box or cart at# tached to the rear part of4 themachine to re- 'ceive them. f lTo enable others skilled in theart towhich my invention. appertains to make and use the same, I will proceedto describe theponstruction and operation' thereof.

The frame of my machine is represented in the drawings by A. It may bemade in the form and proportion indicated in the drawings, or of suchother form and proportion as experience and convenience may dictate.Said 'frame is mounted Aupon wheels B B, ,the axles 'whereof are shownby C C.

To the front end of the frame is attached by means of hinged joints whatI denominate the clearerJ It coiisists of a har of metal, D,

made about in the form shown in the drawings, and with a series ofteeth, a., xed in the front v bend, anda pair of knives, b b, arrangedone on each side of .the teeth. The said knives are in' tended toseparate the vines on each side of the row, and the teeth are te gatherthe vines so 'as teclear them awayfroni before the digger. Said cleareris operated by means of a bar, E,which has its fulcruin at c iu theframe, and which is controlled by the driver sitting in his seat E. Saidclearer, when not' in use, is raisedupo the ground and secured by meansof the hooks d in the staples e, secured in the en d of the arm. Underthe front' end of the machine is arranged and secured the digger G. Saiddigger consists, first, of a pair or metal bars made In the form of atriangle, and with their-rear ends turned up and passed through therock-shaft A", as shown in the drawings, and are there secured; and thefront endof said triangle is fashioned somewhat in the form of a shareto give it an veasy entrance toand passage through the ground; and saiddigger consists, second, of a thin perforated plate, f,with whichv saidtriangular frame is covered, and the edges whereof .are turned up intheform of a' ilatbottomed scoop. The said digger is operated-'-thatfis, raised and loweredvin and out of the groundby means of. thelever H, which acts upon a hinged bed-piece, L, the front end whereof issupported on a pair of rods, K, which pass down through the frame andareattached to the digger, as shown. On the upper ends of said rods Kcollars are made', un-1 der which coil-springs J are placed, sov as toact between said collars .and the vtop of the frame so as to press upthe rod, and 'conse-` quently raise the digger 'out of the ground assoon as the lever H is released, by whichv the springs are compressedand the digger forced into the ground. The lever H, it will be seen,

is placed within reach of the driver, so as to be readily controlled,and is secured by means of a ratchet-bar, M,.as shown. The fulcruni' ofsaid lever consists of'a short arm, I, in thelower end of which a smallwheel is iixed to roll in a groove cutin the plate Il.

'About under the center of the frame, the sifter N is arranged, by whichthe dirt is separated from fthe potatoes. Said sitter is acom- Inonopen-work screen, and may be madeof any suitable material. It hasaplate, O, lixed on each end, through which-a bar, P, passes,-

whereon said sifter has alateral reciprocating motion, which motion itreceives through the agency of the bandwheel.Q, fixed onthe rear axle,there being a band.A leading from'sald wheel to a small 'band-wheel, R,which actuates link j, the lever K, which vibrates about a center, l,xed to the under side of the frame. The opposite end of said .lever isattached to the said sifter,whereby it receives its motion.

In the rear end of said frame-is arranged an endless apron, over therollersn o p, snpported in suitable bearings Amade onor in the frame, asshown bythe drawings, or inv any 1s Yother convenient way which will llthe object sought after. XOt the said apron-carriersq q glv are placedas near as may be thonght necesi'- sary. Into these carriers thepotatoes are deposited off of thesifter, and by them theyfare carried npandY throv'vn over into a hox hooked on the back end ofthe frame. Saidhoxis not shown in thedrawn'gs. Said' apron receives its motion from ahand-'wheel 11,'xed on the rear axle, from whence a han' is led to acorresponding wheel ilxed on the rollerD.

'V represeuts'the tongue,to which tiiepower vis applied todraw themachine.'

When 'jsaidmachine v1s m operation-the tatoes are dug out bythe diggerGgover which they are sh'oved'into the .sifter-N, where they` vl'arecleared ofdthe.' dirt and deposited in the `carrlers,-and bytheminthe ho'x or cart placed there tovreceive them.

A. Having noivdescrihed the.constiuotonfend operation of xnymachine,what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The clearer D, arranged-on the front-end of the machine, andcombined' with the bar E for 'operating`the same, the whole to beconstructed and arranged substantially in the manner'set forth. l Y ,2.VThe `rods-K and springs'J,.in combina tion with the hingedplatform H,-las and for the purpose set forth. A p

-3. In combination with the diggerv G, the sifiser N, constructed,arranged, and operated assetforth, y 4. Incombination with the digconstructed as set forth'z the endless apron .m 'furthe purpose ofreceiving-'and delivering the potatoes, as described.- Y r WILLIAMJQNES.

THomsgL; SAhisBUnif,

